By Matt Schuler
San Dimas only scored 7 points in the final quarter, but it was its last bucket that made all the difference.
Kevin Kolbeck converted a put-back bucket with 1.1 seconds left to put away tournament host West Covina 49-47, and give the Saints a clutch victory that almost got away Tuesday night at West Covina High School.
Kolbeck finished with 16 points, hitting 8 out of 15 shot attempts, but Coach Bruce Robbins didn’t let the positive overshadow the negative aspects of his play.
“He also had eleven turnovers by himself,” said Robbins. “Kevin was all-league and he’s the only guy with any experience.”
The Bulldogs were trailing for the majority of the game before rallying back in the fourth quarter behind Forward Horace Nguyen. Nguyen scored all 9 points in the fourth for W.C and provided a spark when he stepped on the floor.
Trailing 42-38 going into the fourth, Nguyen scored five consecutive points to give West Covina its first advantage (43-42) in the game since leading 5-0 early. After 4 more points from Nguyen and a basket from S.D, Austin Barbato sank a 3-pointer with under a minute left to knot the score at 47.
With 16 seconds remaining on the clock, San Dimas got possession of the ball and coach Robbins called a time out to design one last play. The play was executed to perfection, but when the shot missed rim from beyond the arc it bounced right off the back board and into the hands of Kolbeck, who was there for the offensive rebound and put-back with 1.1 seconds remaining on the clock.
“He’s the only guy we got back from last year’s team,” said, Robbins. “Kevin was all league and he’s the only guy with any experience.”
Reggie Brown added 13 points for the Saints and Barbato finished with 9. On the Bulldogs side, Jared Valdiviez dropped in 11 points, with 9 of those coming in the second half.
It was a close call for S.D, but they will take it any way they can get it according to Robbins.
“Right now we’ll take the win,” said Robbins.
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